The advent of the internet ensured that highly accessible porn was a virtual guarantee. But has the desensitization that comes from this ubiquity merely an unfortunate reality or the harbinger of legitimate societal ills?

The previous question, despite its seemingly chaste bent, is not a puritanical one. Academics generally agree that porn, consumed in moderation, can be a welcome addition to a healthy sex life.

People often leap to the defense of porn by arguing about its supposed benefits, one of them being that it’s a completely harmless way to explore one’s fantasies.

Rather, it is intended to dissect a very real way this surrogate sex can affect one’s own intimate activities and perhaps even their personal relationships.

It is commonly agreed upon by experts and laymen alike that a driving factor in porn consumption is boredom. Though very few would like to admit it, loneliness and a lack of especially much to do has driven many a night owl into the realm of digital fantasy.

But it’s important to remember that’s exactly what this is: fantasy.

In the age of the internet, when anything one desires is only a keystroke away, it is easy for reality to become painfully vanilla in comparison. On the flip side, it can alter people’s view of reality and loosen their grip on it.

Pornography is marketed by its visual and sensual appeal, creating a false expectation to viewers about what sex and relationships are like.

Taboo fantasies such as step-family members, schoolgirl, and even more extreme content have risen in popularity. For the desensitized, “normal” categories of erotica are not enough anymore.

Like with every other addiction; tolerance builds up, the appeal will inevitably pall, and you’ll need something stronger so you can relive the same thrill.

However, the many who habitually consume skin flicks and bleed their bank accounts dry with subscriptions to OnlyFans resort to this type of content because reality disappoints them.

And there the brunt of the problem reveals itself. It is a very real possibility that pornography expedites antisocial behavior already rampant in a lonely generation.

Even worse, this online erotica proves to only be a momentary, cheap thrill at most. The quest to find some meaning on a lonely night often ends with the potential viewer feeling even more isolated than they began.

Despite this disappointment though, the wayward watcher is still left unsatisfied with the real world, driving them back into the pornstar’s warm digital bosom, and the vicious cycle continues.

Is there any hope for the solitary spectator of syncopated smut? Despite the doom and gloom on display prior, all is not lost.

Porn attracts those who feel something fundamental is missing from their life. They feel that their existence is wholly devoid of any sort of meaning, a goal to continue on for.

it would not be unreasonable, then, to link this rampant, unhealthy pornography consumption with the general sense of depressive, childish malaise that has settled over our generation like a storm cloud.

Armchair philosophers and psychologists, as well as the real thing have been trying to combat this malady for years now. This issue is not a monolith, there is a variety of solutions that have been put forth.

But make no mistake, the most effective combat to pornography addiction is purpose. To find a worthwhile, fulfilling cause to occupy your nights is the only way to resist smut’s siren song.

Lest you make something of yourself and become a man you can be proud of, you are doomed to remain eternally trapped in place by an erotic glow.